By: Anne-Marie
September 14 2006 • 10:48 PM
InDesignSecrets Podcast 031
Listen in your browser:
InDesignSecrets-031.mp3 (22.4 MB, 24:27 minutes)
or read the transcript of this podcast.
- The InDesigner videocast is part of InDesignSecrets!
- Free plug-in, “CleverFindChangeCloser” from Aextra Software
- Adding the current date to your pages, automatically
- Obscure InDesign Feature of the Week: Notes (tool and menu)
More info on Notes in this post
Links mentioned in the podcast:
The InDesigner videocast
CleverFindChangeCloser plug-in (CS2 only): Download for Mac or Windows. (For help installing the plug-in, see this post)
The PrinterMark file David referred to (instructions are included)
Dave Saunders’ cross-platform DateTimeInsert script page (now with instrux and a set-up script! See Dave’s comment below)
(Dave’s Date/Time scripts are free, as are many others he’s posted. You can support his work with an Encouragement Donation.)
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To insert the date you can also do this :
1. Create a Word file and choose Insert > Date & Time > choose a style and then check the Update automatically box.
2. Save the Word file
3. Import the Word file in InDesign but keep the link with the external Word file alive (in ID’s Preferences)
4. If you want to update the date, just open the Word file and save it, the automatic date is updated.
5. ID will react “Modified Link”. Just update it.
6. The same Word file can be then used in many other ID files as THE external link which provides a date updated (almost) live.
Gosh this sites header is really terrible!
At a quick glance it looks like grungy or in the spirit of crackhouse.ttf which can only be faulted for being outdated.
But whats so wrong about the masthead on further inspection, is that while you were obviously going for an ink bleed look created from a typewriter or press type, the icon of the toolbox does not share the same effect even though you can see the paper texture underneath it. The two psuedo-styles of the bleeding type, and the toolbox ultimately repel each other, without any reconciliation or interesting contrast. Having mentioned that, It would be nice if you also tinkered with the color scheme a bit, before settling on BLUE and BLACK.
A message to Dave Saunders :
Instead of juggling with MRK files and choosing a Type of marks and so on…
Would it be possible that a script just copies the metadata Date modified of the current ID document and place it in a text box or replace text strings with a specific character style. This could be extended to name, hour,…
I think they used a typewriter style font to emphasize the secrecy of the typed documents in spy movies of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s… ? In 80’s movies they started to use PCs and Macs…
I’ll need to listen to the podcast to understand your question, Bran. On the agenda for later today.
Dave
Well, I remember writing the script but I don’t remember posting it anywhere other than in the U2U forum. David doesn’t seem to have posted a link to it either, but after that wonderful plug, I’d better make sure it’s somewhere to be found.
OK, I found the scripts and I had posted them at:
http://pdsassoc.com/downloads/DateScripts.zip
Dave
OK, I’ve updated the package at that link address to include two new scripts and a user guide I spent yesterday creating. There are still two scripts, but they work quite differently:
DateTimeSetup.jsx allows you to create two DateTimeFormat/Character style pairs (by means of a dialog) that allows you to have up to two date/time stamping formats in any of your documents.
I’ve built-in 14 different formats and provided instructions on how to add more.
DateTimeInsert.jsx uses the settings for your document to insert the current date/time in place of any text that uses the character styles you assigned.
So, this second script is exactly as David and Anne-Marie described in the podcast, with the addition that it can now work with any of the 14 built-in formats and you can have two active at once in your document.
I’ve written an eight-page user guide which explains how to install the scripts, how to operate them, and how to customize them.
Dave
Dave … wow. Thank you so much! I’ve updated the Show Notes with a link to the script page on your site.
On the sound quality for this podcast, you two seem to have used a channel each when recording, so David appears in my left ear and Ann-Marie in my right. As I know David is in Seattle and Ann-Marie in Chicago, I felt I had to listen to this podcast facing north. But the main problem is that unless the sound comes from both channels (and therefore into both ears) simultaneously, it’s harder to drown out the screaming kids on the bus in the morning. Please use both channels in future and save what’s left of my sanity! Thanks, Jock
Jock, yes, you’re absolutely correct. We split the channels into stereo for this episode. We’ve heard from a number of people who were less than pleased about it and we’ll try not to do it again. Sorry! Episode 32 should be normal (mono) again.
FYI: I just posted more information on the free Notes plug-in (this episode’s Obscurity of the Week) as a new article in the blog.
To Anne-Marie:
Thanks a lot!